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Racial differences in homeownership have long been a topic of sociological study. Previous studies, however, neglected to consider differences in levels of homeownership between nonmarried black and white women in the context of place. Accordingly this paper focuses on the interaction between place, race, and gender and its impact on homeownership for nonmarried persons. The study employs the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series (IPUMS) and logistic regression analysis to address the following questions: Has the racial differential in homeownership for nonmarried women changed from 1970 to 1990? How do place, race, and gender interact to determine the levels of homeownership for nonmarried women? The findings reveal that, although black women were less likely than white women to own homes, the racial differential declined dramatically in rural areas over the two‐decade period. The overall trend of decline was opposite to that for urban areas.

This paper summarizes how race and gender have been studied in sociological scholarship on leadership. It is argued that new voices challenge traditional theories and represent a movement toward a more comprehensive analysis of leadership. A framework is presented to contrast current views with traditional perspectives. A black female perspective is used to demonstrate the applicability of the framework. The paper proposes this framework as a preliminary step toward a reconceptualization of leadership that considers the experiences of non-elites and leadership in non-traditional arenas.

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Family structure has been cited as a major factor in the differential rates of poverty between Blacks and Whites. However, most studies have focused primarily on the urban Black family. Relatively little attention has been given to poverty among Black families in rural areas. Moreover, sociologists have yet to place the rural Black family in the context of the broader changes occurring within the American industrial economy. Accordingly, the purpose of this article is to determine the extent to which poverty among rural Black families has changed over the 1980-1990 decade. Specifically, the following questions are addressed: 1) What are the relative effects of place and family structure on levels of poverty for rural Black families? and 2) What are the theoretical implications of rural-urban differentials in Black family poverty? The logit analysis of U.S. Census data for 1980 and 1990 revealed that family structure increased in its importance in determining poverty differentials between rural and urban Black families. Moreover, despite controls for demographic and social factors, Black families continue to experience levels of poverty that exceed that of White families in both rural and urban environments. These findings suggest that, while the economic restructuring may have had a greater impact upon rural Black families than commonly assumed, racial discrimination still plays a major role in determining poverty levels for both rural and urban Black families.